Kids

Reading Eggs Program Review Update

Reading Eggs Program Review Update

photo credit: abbamouse I had talked briefly about the Reading Eggs program a couple of months ago, and I just wanted to provide an update with some additional thoughts.  Overall, I think that it is a great supplemental program to reading, but there are some potential drawbacks that prevented me from purchasing the program. First, I want to just say that my son loved the program.  He was very excited to “crack” the different eggs open, and would often ask to play.  For us, the main drawback was that he could guess until he obtained the correct answer without...

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Make Your Own Sidewalk Paint

Make Your Own Sidewalk Paint

photo credit: plindberg If you are looking for something fun and cheap to entertain the little ones, try making this sidewalk paint.  I found this recipe at Easy Fun School: ¼ cup cornstarch ¼ cup cold water 6 to 8 drops of food coloring Basically, add the water to the cornstarch until you reach the desired consistency.  Then add the food coloring! We are going to make ours in some old Cool Whip containers so that we have lids for storage.  According to the website, if the paint dries out, just add more water. Also, since cornstarch is all...

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How did we do on our Christmas budget?

How did we do on our Christmas budget?

photo credit: milele In a previous post, I mentioned that we hoped to spend $250 total on Christmas this year.  We had $95 dollars left and quite a bit to still get.  So in the end, how did things turn out? We actually ended up with $105 to spend, since my mom wanted to contribute to the gift certificate for my stepfather (we had budgeted $20, but only spent $10). We spent $15 on my brother – we redeemed $20 in gift cards from Amazon, and split the cost of a Wii game with my grandmother. We didn’t get...

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Spending quality holiday time with family – fun and frugal ideas

Spending quality holiday time with family – fun and frugal ideas

photo credit: naviniea Christmas is going to be so much fun this year. Our little one is almost 3 years old, and he’s going nuts with all the Christmas lights around town. He’s been asking about a “Kees-mas tee” all week long, and today is the big day! Since all of our Christmas shopping is done, it’s going to be a very relaxing holiday season. Here are some of the things we plan on doing as a family this year. Some do cost money, but we feel they are well worth it! 1. Cut your own Christmas tree –...

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I just finished the fun Christmas shopping

As you may know from some previous posts, we have a $250 self-imposed budget for Christmas this year.  We had a budget left of $227, and I have definitely made a dent in it.  Here’s the breakdown: $41 – the Christmas shopping for all of our little friends.  We have three little ones that are like family to us, and I combined this with two birthday gifts for kids (the total order was $69) to get free shipping.  All of the gifts are made from sustainable wood and are earth-friendly.  I had budgeted $15/kid for Christmas, so I came...

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Some thoughts prior to Election Day

This is not a political blog, so the purpose here is not to reveal who my preferred candidate is, and why the other candidate sucks, etc. I just wanted to give you this heads up, so that you may be more inclined to read on. This weekend, we went to visit some friends, and took some time to walk around Washington DC since the weather was so nice.  As the kid was attempting to scale the Washington Monument, I was looking around and saw the White House from a distance.  As I turned back around to check on the...

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Keeping our heads up in today’s economy

Everything seems to be in the crapper.  With election politics heating up (and not necessarily in a good way), an economic bailout that I am pretty sure no one has a real clue about, and the American dream becoming less achievable for many, things seem to be “not so great”. Or is it?  I think that perhaps we’re really at a turning point — a sort of reality check where those that have not been realistic about what they cannot afford need to come to terms with the consequences.  While this is happening at a personal level, I am...

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It’s potty time!

I think that we may be lucky, but we started potty training about 2 weeks ago, and we’re doing pretty well.  The kid sometimes does the potty dance, but accidents have been very few and far between.  He does wear a  diaper to bed and a pull-up during naptime.  Other than that, it’s undies all day long! Am I missing something?  I thought that the terrible twos were horrific, but we’ve had a lot of fun so far.  Of course there are craptastic days, but overall it’s been a wonderful experience.  Maybe he’ll turn into a demon on his...

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Frugal idea – exchange services

I am really happy – I just got myself some “free” babysitting!  I have a neighbor who is studying for a math exam she needs to pass for teaching, and I offered to tutor her.  She’s got the concepts down, but just needs some help with test-taking strategies and finding some ways to solve the problems a little faster. For me, it’s been some time since I have tutored math, and I have forgotten how much I enjoy it.  When my neighbor insisted on paying me, I felt that it wasn’t fair to charge an hourly rate, since we...

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Cute kid story

We’ve been working hard on the “please” and “thank you” concept with the kid.  He’s doing pretty well. He’s also at the stage where he imitates everything we say.  For example, when we run out of something, like milk or dog food, he’ll say, “Milk all gone”.  I respond with the usual, “Yep, we’ll have to go to the store to get more milk” (or more dog food, or whatever).  This is almost always followed by, “Oh boy (I have no idea where he picked this up!).  Go bye bye car.  Go store, get more milk.”  It’s pretty cute....

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